Metal bench



YE; MCCLURE July 23, 1929.

METAL BENCH Filed Nov. 14, 1927 Patented July 23, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD MCCLURE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FRANKLIN1?. SMITH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

METAL BENCH.

Application filed November 14, 1927.

This invention relates to metal benches or settces and its principalobject is to provide a strong and substantial metal bench or settee ofneat and attractive appearance. It is well known that wooden benches,espe cially those used in parks and other public places are veryunsatisfactory because they are easily destroyed by mischievous persons.The ordinary metal benches are not satis factory because they are easilytipped over and apt to be broken.

The bench forming the subject matter of this specification is formed ofstructuralnietal supporting members and metal slats, which form the seatand back and are spaced from the supporting members'and bolted orotherwise secured thereto, certain of said slats having webs or flangeswhich project over the ends of the supporting members so as to give afinished and attractive appearance to the bench. The invention consistsin the several novel features hereinafter fully set forth and claimed.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the drawing accompanying thisspecification, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a metal bench embodying a simple form ofthe pres ent invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof; Fig. 3 is afront elevation thereof partly broken away; Fig. 4 is a detail verticalfragmental cross section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is adetail vertical fragmental longitudinal section taken on the line 55 ofFig. 4 and Fig. 6 is a detail plan of a fragment of one of the seatsupporting members.

Referring to said drawing, which illustrates one embodimentof thepresent invention, the reference characters 10, 1O designate the mainsupporting members or legs of the bench and 11, 11 designate thehorizontal seat supporting members. Conveniently the legs and seatsupporting members are formed of structural metal, such as I beams, Ts,angles, channels and round or square pipes of suitable dimensions andeach one of the seat supporting members is welded or otherwise rigidlysecured to one of the legs at the proper height to sustain the seat. Insome instances the legs are made relatively long and are sunk into holesformed in the earth and cement concrete 12 Serial No. 232,971.

is filled in the holes around the lower ends of the legs thus providinga very substantial support for the entire bench.

Bolted or otherwise secured to the legs and seat supporting members 11,are slats 13, 14, 15, 16, which extend lengthwise of the bench and formthe back and seat portions thereof. The body portions of the slats areraised from the supporting members and are spaced therefrom as forinstance by short sleeves 17 that surround the bolts 18, which securethe slats to the supporting members. The slats, and in some instancesthe supporting members 10, 11, are formed with bolt holes for thereception of the bolts 18, and nuts are secured upon the threaded endsof the bolts and bear against the undersides of the supporting members.WVhen I beams or other flanged supporting members are used, the boltholes are formed in the flanges thereof as shown in Fig. 6. Obviouslyother forms of connecting means may be employed for securing the slatsto the supporting members, but the one shown provides simple meanswhereby the parts may be shipped in a knocked down condition andassembled at the place where the benches are to be used. Moreover thisarrangement provides means whereby any slat may be readily removed fromthe bench and replaced by another.

As a preference the intermediate slats 14;, 16 are in the form ofchannels arranged with their flanges turned towards the supportingmembers and engaging therewith if desired. The end slats 13, also areprovided with flanges 13, 15 which are turned towards the supportingmembers and may engage therewith, and said end slats are formed withother webs or flanges 13 15 which overhang the adjacent ends of thesupporting members 10, 11 so as to cover them and give an improved andattractive appearance to the top and front of the bench. Narrow flanges13, 15 are formed along the edge portions of the flanges 13", 15 andsaid narrow flanges 13, 15 are bolted to the other flanges of thesupporting members by bolts 19 or otherwise secured thereto as may bedesired. The body portions of the slats (which form the back of thebench) are all arranged in a single plane, parallel with the legs 10,and the body portions of the slats (which form the seat) also arearranged in a single plane parallel with the seat supporting members 11.The

slats are all spaced apart, although the spaces are made rather narrowso as to prevent objects from being placed between the slats bymischievous persons in an attempt to pry them apart.

The flanges of the slats give great strength to the slats, wherebycomparatively light material may be used in forming the back and seatportions. The bench may be made of any convenient length and if desiredmore than two sets of supporting members may be employed for supportingan extremely long bench.

With the use of a pair of legs as shown, it is an easy matter to runalawn mower under the bench for the purpose of cutting the grass andalthough I prefer to use supporting legs only at the back of the bench,it is quite obvious that short supporting legs may be provided at thefront of the bench and connected to the rear supporting legs byhorizontal base members shown by the dotted lines 20, 21 in Fig. 2.

More or less variation of the exact details of construction is possiblewithout departing from the spirit of this invention; I desire,therefore, not to limit myself to the exact form of the constructionshown and described, but intend, in the following claims to point outall of the invention disclosed herein.

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A metal bench comprising a plurality of upwardly extending, mainsupporting members forming the legs of the bench, a plurality of seatsupporting members fixedly secured thereto and projecting horizontallytherefrom, and channel shaped metal slats fixedly secured to saidupwardly extending and horizontally extending supporting members withtheir body portions spaced away therefrom and forming the back and seatportions of the bench, the end slats having bent up flanges overlyingthe adjacent ends of the supporting members and being fixedly securedthereto.

2. A metal bench comprising a plurality of flanged upwardly extendingmain supporting members forming the legs of the bench, a pluralityofflanged horizontally extending members welded to the legs and formingthe seat supporting members of the bench, channel shaped metal slatsextending across said legs and across said seat supporting members,bolts connecting the slats with the legs and seat supporting members andspacers surrounding the bolts and spacing the body portions of the slatsaway therefrom, the end slats having flanges overlying the adjacent endsof the legs and seat supporting members and having bent up edge portionsbolted thereto.

3. A metal bench comprising a plurality of I beam members forming thelegs of the bench, a plurality of horizontally extending I beam memberswelded to the legs and forming the seat supporting members of the bench,and channel shaped metal slats extending across said legs and acrosssaid seat supporting members, and bolted thereto with the body portionsof the slats spaced away from said, legs and seat supporting members,the end slats having flanges overlying the adjacent ends of the legs andseat supporting members, and formed with bent up edge portions boltedthereto.

4. A metal bench comprising a plurality of I beam members forming thelegs of the bench, a plurality of horizontally extending I beam. memberswelded to the legs and forming the seat supporting members of the bench,channel shaped metal slats extending across said legs and across saidseat supporting members, bolts connecting the slats with the legs andseat supporting members and spacers surrounding the bolts and spacingthe body portions of the slats away therefrom, the end slats havingflanges overlying the adjacent ends of the legs and seat supportingmembers and having bent up edge portions bolted thereto.

EDWARD MCGLURE.

